


Vex'ahlia: Practically the Royal Treasurer

by cjg



Series: Gold [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Character Study, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Money, Spoilers Up to Episode 86
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-26 21:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9922397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjg/pseuds/cjg
Summary: Vex'ahlia and her relationship with goldThenVex'ahlia, Percival, and their relationship with gold.





	1. Vex'ahlia, The Party, and Gold

The ledger where Vex keeps track of the group's finances is a thick leather bound book that she's had since Syngorn. It had been the least expensive book of it's kind that she could find, the pages already yellowed and the corners were not in the greatest shape but it did have a spot in the spine to keep a pencil so it would do, she was originally only going to use it as a journal. After haggling the price down from three silver to one she left the shop very pleased with herself.

She used it as a journal for five days then put it on a shelf in her room where it sat for three months unused before she and Vax left.

The pages she'd written on are cut out and used as kindling in their very first fire.

She and Vax are huddled together for warmth, he pokes at the fire almost incessantly with a long wet stick until the large piece of wood finally catches

"I didn't mean for you to ruin your book," he says quietly once he's stopped shaking.

She just shrugs, the words on the pages burning in the fire mean nothing, the warmth means everything.

\-------

In the beginning, she has it broken up into two halves, sections for Gold and Gems, the two things Vax is most likely to come home with at night.

Vax comes back to camp early, well before nightfall, a few months after leaving Syngorn, his face so much whiter than it should be.

"Vex, I was stupid and got caught."

He's clutching his side with his hand. He gasps in pain when she pulls it away she can tell that the cuts are not too deep but they're still bleeding and have been for a while.

She nurses him back to health but it takes over a week, leaving his side to hunt during the first few days knowing he might not be alive when she gets back is horrible.

\-------

The pages from before the SHITS are gone, Vex cuts them out and burns them a week after Uriel informs them of the Keep he is going to have built and their new position on the council. It has been months since she could even bring herself to look at the pages that documented the times when it was just Vax and herself, and later Trinket, living off as little as they could. The lines that equal out to 0 follow her into her dreams. She'll remember the reality of those times forever.

\-------

The book is divided twice more when the SHITS are first founded.

A smallish section of the book is specifically for putting a large amount of money aside in an effort that all magical components and potions that anyone in the party might need are taken care of. They stock up as regularly as they can in an effort to never run out.

Food and shelter, well it was much easier to live off the land almost entirely when it was just Vax, Trinket, and herself, once there are more people to feed purchasing meals and staying at inns when not on the road become the new normal. Buying food when they are able and keeping dry food rations helps them to get from place to place without stopping to hunt for eight people and a bear every night. A largish section toward the back of the book is for this. She does have a strict rule about alcohol, which is not food. Alcohol comes out of everyone's personal funds or if they're all drinking, the party funds.

"Sir, is there a way we could negotiate a lower price for these dry food rations if we purchased in bulk?" She's trying to be polite but really, she could tell when she walked into this store that the older dwarf was going to be difficult.

"Sorry lassy, no haggling." If he is trying to discourage her or make her go away he's doing a terrible job of it.

"What would the price be for your entire stock of rations?"

"You couldn't possibly..."

"A number please or I'll be forced to take my business elsewhere." It's the threat of losing a sale that is her friend in the end.

The look on the dwarf's face after she pays for everything and Grog comes in and they just keep putting packet after packet of rations in the bag of holding is so wonderful. That the rations last them until Westrun is freed from Kevdak is even better.

\-------

It's when the SHITS are formed that Vex starts to keep a small slimmer book to keep track of her personal funds. She takes much less than everyone else does but she never comes up short. The money is used for necessary items and the little splurges she so rarely allows herself. Clothing mostly, they get torn up enough that an abundance of clothing has become a necessity.

\-------

Haggling, a skill she started to learn as a child while holding hands with her mother. Vex hung on to her every word while Vax was looking around behind them at the people going by, not noticing the magic that was going on right behind him. You really could pay less money for things if you said the right words. If you knew enough about what you were buying. If you were willing to leave. It was her mother's haggling that kept her family alive and Vex saw that. It's why she haggles whenever she can, no matter what the group might think or say about it.

She tries her best to be cautious about others knowing about their money. She doesn't even like anyone else in the party knowing exactly how much they have, it gives her the opportunity to make sure that everyone has what they need. Pike is always discreetly handed 500 gold when she is required to leave them, Tiberius had a bag of 2000 gold pressed into his side and tied onto the belt of his robe as she said goodbye.

She didn't get a chance to give Scanlan the 600 platinum she would have given him. She's glad of it when she finds out about the suude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Vex'ahlia, Percival, and their relationship regarding gold.


	2. Vex'ahlia, Percival, and Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vex'ahlia, Percival, and their relationship in regards to gold.

The day they save Percival, he puzzles her by giving her his entire bag of gold. She has the distinct impression from when he handed it to her that he isn't trying to buy anything with it. It seems more like he wants her to be his personal treasurer or something, she thinks he's probably just bad with money.

He says, "I trust you with this."

Quickly he hands her the bag of gold and then walks away. Posh types can be so weird.

\-------

At first, she's not quite sure where to enter it in the book. If he's not going to stick around he's going to want everything he's given her back. To be safe she goes to the very last page writes 'Percival' at the top of it and enters 517 gold and 21 silver on the first line. She also enters the sum into the party gold with a small 'P' next to it.

She adds a column on his page when he gives her some very minor gems the next day, the particular gems and their value are entered into the correct sections.

They continue on in much the same fashion. He stays and while he doesn't always give her his money immediately, he does pass it to her eventually. She keeps a tally of it all with the knowledge that while the money might be mixed in with the party gold he has a right to it when he wants it.

It is a truly weird relationship he has with money too. He acts like he doesn't need it up until he has to have it for something and then he asks her for some so nicely like he has no money of his own.

It's like his personal funds don't mean anything to him. Whenever the group is pressing her to distribute some coin he stays silent. It doesn't mean she doesn't add to his funds. She takes the same amount that everyone else is getting and adds it to his balance. It's in the party funds anyway, it's not as if that total is changed.

He doesn't spend a lot of money regularly but when he does, there is always enough for it. She likes to have at least a third of what his current total is in the party funds at any given moment and when there is less she gets cranky. The thing he needs money for most often is weapon repair and that is so important but can sometimes be expensive.

When they're in a town she always gives him enough to get everything he needs. The amount fluctuates up and down depending how well they are doing at the time. If he’s ever thought that what she gives him isn’t enough well, he's never mentioned it.

She had a passing concern in the beginning that he'd get pickpocketed because even when he's trying not to he just looks like understated wealth. He’s a perfect target to those who know what to look for, then she remembers his gun and the fact that he has lasted this long on his own and she realizes that he will probably be fine.

It takes her a while to notice this because he lets her handle the haggling, but he's not all that bad with money actually. He's a pretty good negotiator himself which makes the situation with his money even stranger.

\-------

He is planning and developing Bad News while Grayskull is being built and for the small amount of time she leaves Emon, she subtracts the total of everything that is rightfully his from the party funds and the third page of his section, titled simply 'Percy,' and gives it back to him.

There is a partially finished weapon in his room when she returns and over half of the coin waiting to be given back to her. Even more impressive is that he's actually taken the time to buy extra clothes and has had five coats made to match the now threadbare and overly mended one he has always worn, but in a variety of different weights. The color of the new coats doesn't exactly match the old one but if anything the new blue makes his eyes seem brighter than the old one ever did. His blush when she mentions it is so satisfying.

Money for his ammunition comes out of the party fund. It's the same as if Vax was asking to buy a new dagger or when she needs to stock up on arrows, that's mostly what the party gold is for, buying things to make them better in battle. The money for fixing his guns comes out of his own money, though, it happens often enough to warrant that distinction.

The arrows he makes her, well the cost of those comes out of the party funds, although she will admit that when he starts to just make arrows for her without asking for the gold first, she subtracts the gold from his account. She views these as gifts and she takes them gladly.

Cassandra gives her a strange look when she asks for the correct spelling of Percy's full name shortly after everything with the Briarwoods is taken care of, but Cassandra does write it out for her in its entirety. It's how the latest of his pages is titled ‘Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III of Whitestone.’ The largest entry on the page, a 2000 gold sum with a note next to it saying, ‘to be paid back: Whitestone Treasury.'

She is as he said, practically the royal treasurer.

She's too distracted to find out how he paid for the Seige Arrow he built her after, well after everything. When she thinks about it later she has the feeling that Cassandra and a trip to the Whitestone Treasury may have been involved.

\-------

He begins to understand her system when they first work on the broom together. He’s taking a break, not done for the night, just talking to her about how he’s going to need to buy some parts so he can build the seat portion of his design. He catches a glimpse of the book from over her shoulder when she's subtracting the money he'll need from the party funds. Noticing the little 'P' annotations on the page he asks her what they mean.

She can’t help but roll her eyes as she looks down at the book because to her the answer is obvious. Opening to the last page and showing him the top where it says, ‘Percival.’

"I have my own gold?" The confused look on his face would be comical if they weren't talking about money.

"Yes, it's in with the party funds but I keep track of it separately. That’s what the 'P' marks mean." She feels almost as confused as he looks. If he didn't think he had money where did he think the money she gives him comes from?

He can't seem to get past this. "All of this time and I have my own gold?" He's speaking more to himself than anything else at this point.

"Of course, you have your own gold, where do you think the money you give me goes?" She really would like an answer to this.

"Into the party funds, I guess? I give it to you, then you let me have some when I need it." He shrugs as he says it like he really has no other answer for her.

As she thinks about his answer there's silence.

It's not an inaccurate description of it really. He couldn't know that she'd keep calculating his money separately for so long.

She lets the subject drop but the strangeness of the conversation effects the rest of the time spent in the workshop that night.

When he's done as much as he can he passes her back the broom. They're about to leave when he stops her and insists that the gold spent on the modifications for the broom be taken from his own gold because he might not be successful and the enchantment on the broom might be damaged in the process.

It’s considerate of him to worry about this project like that and the offer catches her more than a little bit off guard. She's agreeing before her mind catches up with her mouth.

He’s disappeared into his room by the time she realizes that he never asked how much money he actually has.

It’s such a weird relationship with money.

\-------

Percy gets the parts he needs for her broom for free from the people of Westrun after they kill Umbrasyl. He returns the money she had given him with no words while holding the parts in his other hand. He doesn’t have a lot of time to work on it while they build the bunker under the city. He seems perpetually busy and also like he’s mildly avoiding her. 

The way he asks for money does not change after he finds out about his money. She’s not sure if that’s reassuring or strange. What she is sure about is that every time he asks for money now, a warmth settles through her because of his tone of voice and she has to fight the urge to blush. She tries to make it fair by kissing him on the cheek after he reveals his plans to have a shrine to The Raven Queen built but his face is still red from the cold outside and she can't tell if there is any change in the low lit room.

Vex gets the 5 pound bag of gems he won in the cannonball contest back from Percy right after they come back from the Feywild, once his memories have been restored. She finds the bag on her desk with a note underneath with her full title and the official Whitestone Seal at the bottom. He just keeps giving her things, the arrows, the broom, the title, a home and she doesn't think that he has any idea how much it means to her. She actually laughs when she finds a note in the bag saying that the bag of gems is actually lighter than 5 pounds now. She looks through the bag because she thinks she knows what might be missing, a mildly large ruby. It’s gone just like she thought.

What happened in the Feywild has made her feel unsure about nearly everything and she’d pay much more than 5 gold for confirmation that she did the right thing in that tree. The card reader's words calm her a little, but the cards that are dealt just confuse her more.

She doesn’t think he’ll mind if all of the money the two of them spend at the casino in Ank’Harel comes off of a page labeled ‘Grandsire de Rolo.’ He may laugh if he ever finds out about this page or he might even get that half-amused but still mildly embarrassed look on his face that he couldn’t hide the last time she called him that.

When faced with Scanlan's joke about how they could save money during Percy's resurrection ritual she immediately knows that she'll offer up the most expensive and finely cut diamond the party has. That Pike mentions the same thing while being a bit more serious the minute after causes her to walk over to Grog put her hand in the bag of holding and pull out the perfectly cut diamond, that’s almost a large as the palm of her hand, that she knows is in there. She wouldn't be surprised if her preference for diamonds decreases after this. 

The sheer amount of wealth in Vorugal’s hoard is disgusting even by her standards. Vex is more than happy about the amount they were able to take from it. When everything is done with the dragons she’s giving everyone a lot of platinum. She just is. They all deserve it.

After returning from Draconia and before the horrible meeting with Raishan. Vex meets with Cassandra and pays back the 2000 gold that the still-rebuilding city really couldn’t afford to give them in the first place. They don’t talk about anything except money in their quick meeting, which is very good because she is still filled with nervous and excited energy, even though it’s been hours since the kiss. If they talked about anything else she probably would have had the same conversation with Cassandra that she had with Keyleth earlier, although a much more uncomfortable one. 

He doesn't ask and she doesn't tell him exactly how much she spends to free Hunin and Kyor but the fact that he knows that she's lying means a great deal. She kind of likes that he can see past her bullshit even though her lie was entirely unbelievable in the first place. 

Like everyone else, he takes 500 gold from Thordak's lair. She doesn't know what he has planned but she knows that the money is not passed to her once they get back to Whitestone or after they defeat Raishan. It seems he's going to keep whatever that money is for to himself. 

\-------

After Percy's finished thoroughly showing her the treasury they catch their breath sitting against the wall he'd had her pressed against minutes before. They’ve rearranged their clothing so they’re reasonably covered, the whole room is underground and made of whitestone so it’s mildly chilly but she's still so warm.

They're both looking over at the portion of the room where Vox Machina stores their fortune when he asks very simply how much of that is actually his.

She leans over him to reach her things and removes the book that holds that answer from her bag.

She turns it over on his lap and opens it to the last page where his account starts and he tips the book up slightly and shifts away from her so she can no longer see the pages of the book. Putting his glasses on, he doesn't read the first entry on the page out loud but he does whisper it to himself, "517 gold and 21 silver."

He starts to slowly look over the pages, nodding at certain entries and grinning as he reads her notes in the margins.

Not looking up when he speaks next, "I know I've joked about it before but you really are a royal treasurer aren't you?" She wonders what he could be reading to prompt such a comment and she leans forward a bit to try and see what page he's on. He just leans the book closer to himself and keeps on reading, a smirk on his face as he does so.

She can tell when he reads the very top of the most recent page because he lifts his head and the smile that appears on his face as he looks at her makes her cheeks blush over her already flushed skin.

They hold themselves in that moment for a second too long, his cheeks redden too and he looks down at the page again trying to cover it. His eyes widen behind his glasses when he looks at the middle of the page, at the total.

She enjoys the shocked look on his face immensely when he looks at her. "I know I'm looking at the records but how did that even happen, magic?" His disbelief is more amusing than it should be.

"It's a little bit of magic but Percy, really, you don't spend money very often. A large part of it is new money, though. I don't know if you know this but dragon slaying is usually extremely profitable." Poking his shoulder twice at the end for emphasis, he tries his best not to react but can't help but laugh just a little when she's done speaking. It's the new money bit that did it, she's sure of it.

"Almost 19,000 gold, though, it's much more than I ever thought, this can't be all mine..." His words trail off as he thinks about it again, staring off beyond her shoulder.

"I don't think that number includes the gems though so it's actually more. We could count all of your gold out in platinum right now if you're interested?" He doesn't even react to her, he's so caught up in his head.

She knows the second the idea comes to his mind, his focus returns to her and his mouth opens slightly like he's shocked with himself but pleased at the same time. "I think that..."

He looks down at the page for a moment before speaking nervously, "I've had a thought, it's a little bit much and we'll forget about it if it makes you uncomfortable but..."

A hand placed on his knee brings him out of his head completely and he leans even further away while taking out the pencil that is stored at the top of the spine of the book.

He starts to write something at the top of the page and her gut reaction is to stop him.

"I don't let anyone else write in..." is all she can say before he stops writing, sees the look of panic in her eyes and his face softens.

"Just this once," is all he says to reassure her. That it does actually relieve some of the panic is a surprising but not an unwelcome change.

He finishes writing, puts the pencil back where it belongs, and passes her the open book.

Before this the top of the page said:  
'Percival of Vox Machina, My Darling.'

Now there's an extra line he's written above it, so it now reads:

'My Dearest, Vex'ahlia of Vox Machina  
Percival of Vox Machina, My Darling'

She looks to him for a further explanation, she thinks she understands what he's saying but he's the only one that can make it clear.

"It's been yours from the start Vex, now it's just official." The look on his face as he says it, he's so vulnerable, open in a way he so usually isn't. She can't help but wonder if he's talking about more than just his money.

Slowly she puts the book down beside her and closes the distance between them. Stradling him, sitting on his thighs, in this position she has all of his attention completely on her. His eyes fixed on hers so intensely.

She needs to make sure he understands one thing extremely clearly.

After being distracted for a moment as he puts his hands on her lower back she leans in closer to him, some of her hair falls on his face in the process.

She tucks it back behind her ears as best she can before speaking softly, her face not six inches away from his, “I need to make sure you to know that we,” she points at his chest and then at her own, “we’re so much more important to me than money.”

When she's done speaking she breaks the eye contact, his gaze had gotten too heavy.

He takes his glasses off in a flash and instantly leans forward so their foreheads touch. His eyes stay open even though she knows he can't see anything this close to his face.

When he speaks his words are equally as soft as hers had been, almost tentative like he's afraid he will scare her away. "I do know that. You care about people so deeply Vex. It's that need to protect that makes money so important to you. It's something you can control that keeps us safe."

Has he always been able to see that, is that why he...? 

Words are beyond her when he finishes speaking so she cups his face in her hands and leans in further.

In the moment it takes for her to guide him into the kiss he closes his eyes and surrenders himself to the moment. He's admitted that his thoughts actually slow down when they're like this, so she keeps her eyes open for a second longer just to watch him.

His entire face softens, all tension gone, content with everything that's going on. Receptive to her every movement.

He's absolutely beautiful like this.

He deserves to be like this all the time, this happy.

This is what Vax was talking to her about yesterday.

He belongs with her.

She belongs with him.

They make each other happy and right now she will admit that this, this is home.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos appreciated.


End file.
